A question for loving parents with daughters?

Question

I am a new Father with 2 small baby girls and I am so scared to death of sexual predators out there wanting to harm little girls.
I want to be well prepared for the potential negative influences that my girls will encounter as they grow older.

Is private school a good choice for education? I don't know because I am new at this and I want the resources for my kids upbringing. I don't want my wife to work. I want her to give the girls the attention that they need.

Does anyone have any good pointers?
Am I being over protective?

I am like this because what I read in the news about children.

Answer 1

Loving parents are concerned about their children,regardless of gender.They are our children. We would like to protect them from all harm but we cannot.We must try to instill in them a sense of self worth and confidence that they don't feel insecure in a world that often seems upside down. We must teach them values and give them the opportunity to make choices( so they will learn tomake good ones) We can tell them about strangers and predators but must be careful to not make them afraid of everyone. Talk WITH your children and LISTEN to their concerns.THe issues of your child are very real to them(even if they seem minor to us)We must prepare our children for life,we cannot live it for them.The most important thing you can do is let your child know you will love them, no matter what.They will make mistakes and need to know your love has no conditions attached.Love them enough that when they have a problem they run to you not a stranger.

Answer 2

A private school might be a good choice for education, but it alone will not protect your daughters from sexual predators. The presence of a stay at home parent IS a good thing, whether it is mom or dad. That was one of the biggest decisions we had to make when we started our family 17 years ago. I believe our children are more secure and responsible because they have had an at-home parent for their entire lives.

You can locate the residences of any sexual predators online. Just type the keywords "sexual predator locator" into a search engine. You must also educate your children from day 1. You cannot protect them 24/7 for their entire lives, it is your job to prepare them to face the world.

Finally, try to relax about the news. Remember - the media are all about hyping things up to get ratings. I've included a link below that may be of interest to you.

Answer 3

you are a very caring father.

i worry abot my daughters safety as well. shes still a baby, but i think about when she goes into school, especially high school. kids are so manipulative. peer pressure is real. no matter how many times you tell your kids drugs are wrong, fighting is unacceptable, and sex is for married couples, some children still need to experience things to understand them. im a young mother, and i just graduated recently, so i know how hard it is to stay on the right track.

private is better than a public school without a doubt. your child will get more attention, smaller classrooms.
as far as sexual predators, theres nothing you can do, but have go out in groups and pick them up from/ drop them off to school.

i believe that i woman should stay at home with the kids unless the father isnt there to help provide. nothing wrong with that.!

Answer 4

I have 2 girls ages 5 and 3 and boy can i relate. My oldest just started kindergarten this year in a terrible school where Caucasian seems to be the minority. We have already had several incidences with young boys already, which only worsens my anxiety. My in-laws offer to start her in private schools but it costs so much money. I want all 3 of my children to have the same opportunities as each other, but we can only see. I have always thought if you are going to do private schools then you should wait until at least 7Th grade or so. I think it actually depends on the individual.

Answer 5

Congrats on your 2 DD's. If they turn out anything like mine they'll be the most, well, most everything, to you as they grow. I'm right there with you in the worries about sexual predators but I don't think it matters where you send them to school or anything like that. Heck, family members can molest, clergy can molest, parents can molest...

How DH and I have handled it is we looked at sex education as starting from just about birth. Like in how to name body parts and as they moved into the toddler years which of those parts should be private. And always from the time they could talk what to do if someone wanted to look at or touch their private parts. We did the whole explanation of good touch and bad touch and how if they were unsure they should always ask a trusted adult. And who are trusted adults? Parents, teachers, grandparents...whoever you think in your circle would help. All of this education isn't just given once but revisited whenever the topic comes up. Like with the boys in the midwest that were just found last month the whole "talk" happened again in this house.

Other than that, DH and I stay involved in the girls' lives. Their teachers know us, their coaches know us (if they are someone other than us), thier friends know us and we know all of them. We don't drop off and say, "hey, call me when you need a ride home" although a lot of their friends are dropped this way now. But that makes it too easy for a predator to zero in on that kid, befriend them and offer rides. It takes some more effort and means you wait sometimes if activities aren't done when they were supposed to be but going that extra step may be what keeps them safe. I don't see any way to keep them totally safe short of locking them up and that would be damaging in it's own way. So we're working with them and hoping it's enough.

Answer 6

I don't believe private school is the answer. Not to scare you but there can be predator there too you know (no to scared you or anything but you never know were they are).
I believe that the most important think is to educate your kids from very small ages to be safe and I'm not talking about the so familiar don't talk to stranger phrase, that doesn't really work for anything. (kids concept of a stranger is different than yours, if they know someones name, or they seen that person before maybe the cable guy or some repair person, kids don't consider this people strangers anymore, why would they, they seem them before) you have to tell your kids that only mom and dad or grandma ( the specific person like uncle tom) can pick them from school, not the neighbour, not the teacher, nobody else even if they know them.
Also you can teach your kids to practise defend mechanisms, because really if somebody were to grab a 5 year old she/he will panic not knowing how to react, but if you teach them how to react to certain situations and practise this (like physically practise to scape or scream or bite, etc) in case of an unexpected situation there defence mechanisms kick in.

Answer 7

All good dads worry about this. Research shows that homeschooling is the best (it produces more emotionally stable adults, among other things) and public vs. private school varies. For safety, just make sure it's in a good neighborhood and get educated about the school's security.

Girls will inevitably be at least harrassed at some point. Self-defense courses/safety pointers go further than you think. Make them aware that there is danger and quiz them about what to do in certain scenarios (like, "if a guy drives up with a gun and tells you to get in, what do you do?"). My dad chose to put me in eight years of Japanese karate and have me carry pepper spray.

Know where they are at all times. Keep up the good fathering

Answer 8

Wow 2 lovely little ladies! No, you are not overly protective. I don't know what kind of private schooling you are considering, but my Catholic private school was wonderful. No matter what the two of you choose, public or private school, they should enter already having received direction, basic morals and knowing what a grand adventure lies ahead for them. Don't worry too much. You will do great! You already sound like a caring daddy.

Answer 9

I suggest that you send your children to a good Christian Private school. Have regular conversations with the people you leave your kids with, to check them out. I do not think that you are being over protective. You are being good father. I don't have children yet but, I may be the same way that you are. If you don't watch out for your family who will. I am going to try to keep my children in good christian environments, with good family and friends, always. Good Luck!

Answer 10

ok i am 14 and not a loving parent but i am the daughter of a loving parent and i went to a private school for a few years then switched to public. Personally i would rather go to public. To me it is just as safe, but if you live in North Hill in Akron, Ohio then private school might be better because there are TONS of sexual preditors. You can go to google and look up sexual preditors and you can go to this page where you enter your address and it will show you all of the sexual preditors that live around you (updated everyday).